No relief from foul smell in Whanganui

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Whanganui residents hoping for some relief from the foul smell from the sewage treatment plant will have to bear it for now, the council warns.

Whanganui mayor Annette Main said from last night to this morning there was a new dumping incident of sulphurous industrial waste material.

The city's treatment plant would struggle to process this new waste, meaning the smell, which had plagued the city for almost three weeks, would continue "for some time", she said.

"There is no 'quick fix' for the odour problem. The only alternatives to discharging to the treatment plant would be to discharge directly into the Whanganui River or the ocean - no-one in our community wants that."

The mayor said the council had not yet been able to identify the industry or industries responsible for the dumping, but would conduct a major review of industrial waste treatment in the new year.